Monthly Archives: January 2011

Snapshots 57 Varieties

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Here are 8 developments of interest to fans:

(1) The Illustration Exchange is a site that facilitates sale of original sf & fantasy art, in some respects an after-market for items originally purchased in convention art shows. I was fascinated by the online galleries where fans and artists are posting images of items in their art collections.

For example, “The Collection of Joe Siclari and Edie Stern” displays photos of Alicia Austin’s “Jirel of Joiry,” George Barr’s “The Spell Sword,” and several pieces by Hannes Bok. Vincent Docherty’s collection features Les Edwards’ and Jim Burns’ Souvenir Book covers from the 1995 and 2005 Worldcons. And items with a high skiffy quotient, like the sketch Charles Vess drew on a bar placemat for Dave Seeley while they were having a beer at Illuxcon 2.

(2) William Shatner blames the media for creating his negative image in this interview in New York Times Magazine, “The Many Iterations of William Shatner”. But even Shatner does not deny what every fan realizes — that by playing his legend so enthusiastically he has infinitely prolonged his career:

I asked him about “Star Trek.” Serious now, he said: “I never thought it’d become a big deal, just 13 episodes and out. I didn’t think I was hard to get along with. There were a few disaffected actors who came in once a week. I had nothing to do with them. Friendly! I was working seven days a week, learning 10 pages of dialogue a day. They had one line! Then after the show was canceled and the ‘Star Trek’ phenomenon began, those actors would go to the conventions. They’d get applause, praise, and begin to think, ‘Hey, I was wonderful, and Shatner stole the spotlight.’ ”

Which was the beginning of the William Shatner character… “They said I was this William Shatner character, and I figured I had to be it,” he said. “Pompous, takes himself seriously, hardheaded.” Shatner said that that character evolved slowly, until one day he realized he couldn’t change it. “So I played it. But I didn’t see it. That character doesn’t seem like me to me. I know the real William Shatner.” He laughed. “At least one of us should.”

(3) It turns out we didn’t need CERN’s research facilities to produce antimatter. NASA’s orbiting Fermi gamma-ray observatory discovered antimatter is routinely created in small amounts by lightning storms.  

(4) I hope it’s not too late to mention that Marty Cantor has edited and posted Phil Castora’s 44-page autobiography “Who Knows What Ether Lurks in the Minds of Fen?” You can find it here.  

(5) Click here to order your steampunk rubber stamps.

(6) Phaedra Bonewits posted on Facebook the postcard her late husband Isaac received from Harlan Ellison in 1972 thanking him for sending a copy of Real Magic. Harlan wrote, “It will help my background for a TV series I’ve just sold about a modern necromancer…” Bonewits also says Harlan once hired Isaac as a technical consultant for a 1980s Twilight Zone episode about doing an exorcism on a robot: “I have no idea if it ever aired.”

(7) Actor Stephen Tobolowsky, whose credits include one of my all-time favorites, Groundhog Day, was prompted by the deaths of several of his fellow character actors — Kevin McCarthy, Carl Gordon, Maury Chaykin, James Gammon and Harold Gould — to write about the nature of their work for the New York Times:  

There is one thing that Kevin, Carl, Maury, James, Harold, Larry and I have in common: we have all played parts that didn’t have names.

When you are Harrison Ford you play Richard Kimble or Han Solo. You have a first and last name, and the writer has thought enough about you to give you a life. Harrison Ford’s characters eat, sleep, drink coffee, shave, shower (from the back only, waist up), read the newspaper, get dressed, drive to work, run for their lives, shoot guns, deliver stirring oratory to alien warlords and possibly kiss Renée Zellweger — all because they have been named.

Compare that with James Gammon, who assayed the roles of “Texan,” “Paps” and “Double D.” Or Carl Gordon, whose characters were sometimes identified only by a job description like “Foreman” or “Luther the Pimp,” or simply age and location like “Older Man on Train.” Harold Gould was stuck with his location on the family tree when he played “Grandpa” in “Freaky Friday.”

I personally have felt the bite of having no name. In my time, I have played “Ranger Bob,” “Ringmaster Bob,” “Dr. Bob,” “Father Jon” and “Father Joe.” For the TV movie “Last Flight Out,” my name was “Tim” in the first half of the script and “Jim” in the last half. One of our stars was Richard Crenna, the funniest man who ever lived; he would always call me “Tim Jim” with a straight face during our scenes and in serious discussions with the director. No one noticed.

(8) The Hammacher-Schlemmer catalog was loaded with robots this season, such as:

*   A 7-foot-tall Robby the Robot (for a mere $50,000)
*   An emotive robot avatar, 54 inches tall, about the size of a large hobbit, for $65,000.
*  Or, if you’re looking for something less expensive, a 6-1/2-foot-tall B-9 “Lost in Space” robot for a mere $25,000. 

Also for sale are more practical robots like:

*  A 15-inch-tall model R2D2 ($200) that responds to voice commands and senses movement, so it can be used as a sentry, if you wish (batteries not included);
*  Several models of the robotic “Roomba” vacuum cleaners (various prices; typically about $400);
*  A robotic toy-picker-upper ($70, remote-controlled, batteries not included), for the kid who has everything – except somebody to clean his room, evidently.

[Thanks for these links goes out to David Klaus, Andrew Porter, Sam Long and James Hay.]

Update 01/15/2011: Corrected attribution of item (6) when I learned Isaac Bonewits passed away before it was posted. His passing on August 12, 2010 was widely reported by pagan interest sites but apparently overlooked by sf sources although Bonewits was a well-known figure in parts of fandom in the late Sixties and early Seventies, and also the Society for Creative Anachronism. Thanks to Lee Gold for the update. // Update 01/16/2011: Corrected spelling to “Robby the Robot” following Bill Warren’s comment. (The catalog spells “Robby” correctly, so this braino was all mine…)

Ann Cecil (1940-2011)

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Ann Cecil died January 11 of cancer reports SF Site. Ann co-founded PARSEC, the Pittsburgh sf club, and remained active into 2010, holding office and leading discussions at meetings.

She was revered for her participation in the Alpha SF/F/H Workshop for Young Writers, affiliated with the club’s annual convention, Confluence (which she also helped found). Writer Dave Kirtley, part of the Alpha staff, has posted an insightful tribute to Ann:

She was also extremely diligent about reading student’s work and providing comprehensive notes, and was always saying stuff like, “It wasn’t until I read it the fourth time that I noticed that…” She was well-practiced at evaluating writing, as she owned a massive science fiction library and would write notes in each book analyzing its strengths and weaknesses. A lot of author friends knew this, and when they visited her home they would have to decide whether they dared take a peek at their own books and learn what she thought of them.

Joel Rosenberg Arraigned

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Minneapolis writer Joel Rosenberg, charged by Minneapolis police with a weapons violation, had his arraignment hearing on January 7.  Rosenberg’s blog reports:

The only thing we can say publicly is that Joel, along with his attorney, David Gross, appeared in court, as required, and that an “omnibus” hearing is scheduled for March 18th; it’s the next scheduled court hearing on this matter.

Under Minnesota law, an arraignment hearing is where the court ensures a defendant understands his rights and what he is charged with.

The next appearance, called an omnibus hearing, is where a defendant may challenge probable cause and any evidence obtained in violation of his constitutional rights.

After that the case is set for a pre-trial conference, and if a plea agreement has not been reached between the prosecution and defense, a trial date is set.

Helping the Worldcon, and the World Too

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Colin Harris piqued my curiosity when he invited Renovation committee members to help him form a Kiva team. Kiva is an organization that facilitates microfinance, providing financial services such as small loans to low-income individuals and those without access to typical banking services, often in the Third World. The team would be independent of and unrelated to the Worldcon, the members simply having that fannish connection in common.  

So far 17 team members have stepped forward. They have put $4,025 out to loan in 102 transactions.

I had not heard of Kiva before and asked Colin, a past Worldcon chair (2005) and part of this year’s Worldcon committee, to tell me more. He wrote:

I thought that creating a Renovation team was a nice idea because I was sure there would already be Renovation members who were also Kiva lenders and that they would enjoy this chance to link their interests together. I also thought that it would raise the profile of Kiva with Renovation members who’ve never heard of Kiva or microfinance, and maybe encourage some new people to join. So it reflects my personal support for Kiva and what it stands for.

The first key point to say straight away is that this isn’t an official Renovation activity (hence for instance you won’t find it linked from our website or discussed in the PRs). As I’m sure you know very well, things like official con charities are very contentious and within any staff or member community there will be a spectrum of opinion from

“conventions should have nothing to do with “causes” as they are inherently political (with a small “p” at least).”

to

“science fiction as a genre is highly sensitive to the future of the world and of society and the SF genre and SF fans have an opportunity, indeed almost a duty, to try and make the world a better place.”

The idea for the group was mine, and I openly admit to appreciating both of the above views. SF IS a genre of the future, full of stories that help us think about the world we are in now or the one we’re creating, and I have always met many fans who (as fans or professionally) are concerned to make the world better. However I also believe that it’s wise to avoid such initiatives becoming official convention activities because there IS a diversity of views about any specific cause and that can become divisive. Far better in my experience to provide space for special interest groups etc, so that fandom helps those who want to come together, while not forcing participation or contribution on people against their will.

This is an open team — anyone can join, click on http://www.kiva.org/team/renovationsf

The first step is to create a personal account on Kiva. You deposit funds, then you choose who to lend them to. Colin explains:

This creates a direct connection between lender and receiver which makes the experience much more tangible for lenders. The idea is to spread risk, so a loan of $1000 total will typically be covered by e.g. 20 people lending $50 each in case of a default. (You lend in units of $25).

When funds are repaid to your account, you can lend them again, or withdraw them – so it really is a loan arrangement, not a charity donation.

Teams are just way of affiliating the loans you make to a social group. If you’re a member of a team (and you can be in none, one, or more than one), then when you loan you get asked if you want to count your loan against that team.

I am very taken with the idea of micro-finance as a way to encourage sustainable development in a tangible way, rather than an aid dependency culture. I’ve been a member of Kiva for about 18 months now myself.

Gerry Anderson Goes Postal

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The Royal Mail has made FAB: The Genius of Gerry Anderson the theme of its first stamp issue of 2011.  

Stingray, Joe 90, and Captain Scarlett are among the Sixties television shows featured on stamps.

The stamps went on sale January 11.

Gerry Anderson is a past Worldcon Guest of Honor (1995).

Maybe I will be lucky and Langford will use one of the new stamps when he sends my copy of Ansible. That’s one of the fringe benefits of continuing to trade paper editions of our fanzines. I still have the envelope from his November issue with a stamp bearing a drawing of Pooh and Eeyore.

I must remember to return the favor by using some colorful commemoratives next time I mail him File 770. Which means I better publish another issue, so I will have something to put in the envelope.

But dang, I see I missed the Royal Mail’s Christmas 2010 issue of Wallace and Gromit stamps. Of course, who would mail such lovely things?

[Thanks to Andrew Porter for the story.]

SLF Offers Older Writers Grant

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The Speculative Literature Foundation (SLF) is accepting applications for the 2011 Older Writers Grant. The $750 grant will be awarded to a writer of speculative literature 50 years or older who is just beginning to work professionally in the field. Applications must be received by March 31. The winner will be announced June 1.

The full press release follows the jump.

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Heinlein in My Neighborhood

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I mentioned in yesterday’s Snapshots that Robert A. Heinlein’s struggle with tuberculosis is thoroughly chronicled in Patterson’s biography. In fact I got a little bit excited when I first read that my home town of Monrovia is the place Heinlein came for treatment in 1933, at a facility that once stood about 10 blocks from where I live.

Dr. Francis Pottenger, Sr.

Heinlein petitioned the Navy to be allowed to pay for his own treatment and when permission was granted he and Leslyn moved to Arcadia, a short ride on the Red Car from Robert’s new physician, Francis M. Pottenger, Sr., co-founder of the then-famous Pottenger Sanatorium:

…the sanatorium cure was the gold standard for TB care, but that was really nothing more than rest in the fresh air, in a mild climate, and a reduction of physical stresses. Being…able to rest, and undergoing Dr. Pottenger’s tuberculin treatments brought about a rapid improvement.

The Pottenger Sanatorium was at 600 N. Canyon Road in Monrovia. The hilltop property has since been developed for housing and now is known as the Canyon Crest neighborhood.

Initially I thought that the old Pottenger place might have been just up my street on the property now used by the Maryknoll Sisters as a home for retired nuns. I’ve been inside many times on Election Day when it was the precinct polling place. That guess was proven wrong. While Maryknoll was once a sanatorium, it was not Pottenger’s. It was taken over in 1930 by the Maryknoll Sisters, associated with mission work in Japan, who use dit to provide care for Japanese afflicted with tuberculosis. I learned that before the Depression there were three or four sanatoriums in the area.

Incidentally, the Heinleins arrived in Arcadia just a month before one of the biggest earthquakes in local history, on March 10, 1933. Welcome to California!

Postscript: The treatments at the Pottenger Sanatorium worked, however, because the tuberculosis was controlled rather than cured Heinlein had to accept a medial retirement from the Navy in 1934. But he was well enough by then to become involved in Upton Sinclair’s campaign for governor. Sinclair, too, has a Monrovia connection — he lived at 464 N. Myrtle Avenue in Monrovia between 1942 and 1966. Sinclair wrote his Pulitzer Prize-winning anti-Nazi novel, Dragon’s Teeth in the rear garage which he’d had converted into his study. (I wonder if that was a violation of the Monrovia building code in those days? It is now. Trust me, I know.)

Upton Sinclair House in Monrovia, CA.

Card Recovering from Stroke

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Orson Scott Card suffered a mild stroke on January 1, and Hatrack River, the official Orson Scott Card website, says he’s already trying to resume work:

He is now back home, retraining his brain so that the fingers of his left hand strike the keys he’s aiming for. He will not be responding to most emails because his typing time must be devoted to finishing his fiction. But he is grateful for your good wishes and he promises not to die with any series unfinished.

For the foreseeable future, OSC will not make any public appearances or undertake any travel. Since his speech is unimpaired, he will still conduct radio and recorded interviews.

[Thanks to Andrew Porter for the story.]

Pratchett Wins 2011 Edwards Award

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Sir Terry Pratchett has been named the winner of the 2011 Margaret A. Edwards Award to honor his writing for teens. The award, sponsored by School Library Journal, was announced on January 10 by The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), during the ALA Midwinter Meeting in San Diego.

Sir Terry Pratchett will be honored at the YALSA Edwards Award Luncheon and presented with a citation and cash prize of $2,000 during the 2011 ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans, June 23–28.

The award is named in honor of the late Margaret A. Edwards, a pioneer in providing library services to young adults at Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore.

The full press release follows the jump.

[Thanks to David Klaus for the story.]

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